Escape-door for railway-cars



no Model.)

- "T. E. FLINT.

I ESCAPE DOOR POR'RAILWAY CARS. No. 269,037. Patented Dec. 12, 1882.

C 47C 6 WITNESSESic l d NT ORi ATTORNEYS.

To all whom it may concern UNn-Eo STATES ATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS ELFL INT, OF M ESCAPE-DOOR F0 IDDLEB-U'RY, VERMONT.

R RA] LWAY -CARS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,037, dated December 12, 1882.

Application filed September 523, 1882. (No model.)

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. FLINT, of Middlebury, in the county of Addison and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Escape-Door for Railroad-Oars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact, description.

The object of my invention is to providenew and improved escape-doors in railroad-cars, which doors can be opened to permit the exit of the passengers in case the car has caught fire or has been overturned and the usual outlets are not accessible.

Theinvention consistsin a car provided with openings in its bottom, which openings are closed by doors connected with slats resting on sliding bars in the car-floor, the said sliding bars being provided with racks engaging with pinions on a shaft below the car-floor, whereby, when the said shaft is rotated, the sliding bars, the seats, and the doors will be moved in the direction of the length of the car, whereby the openings in the car-bottom will be uncovered to permit persons leaving the car through the same.

The invention also consists in parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a car-floor provided with my improved escape trap-doors, showing the same closed. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 3 3 Fig. 1, showing the doors open. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the same on the line 00 m, Fig. 2.

The end uprights, A, of the car-seats A rest on and are secured to longitudinally-movable dovetailed strips or bars B in the car-floor, to the under sides of which bars racks G are secured, which engage with pinions D, rigidly mounted on a transverse shaft, E, journaled below the car-floor. A small ratchet-wheel,F, is mounted on the shaft E, and adjoining to the same a working-lever, G, is loosely mounted on the shaft E. On the lower end of thelever G a forked pawl, H, is pivoted in such a manner that either shank can pass in between the the edges of which rest in the rabbets of the openings, so that the upper surface ofthe said doorswill be flush with the ear-floor. At the forward part of each side edge each door L is provided with an upwardly-projecting lug or plate, M, which is provided with. an upwardly and backward] y extending slot, N, through which slots N studs 0 pass from the inner surfaces of the car-seat supports A. Corner-plates P are'provided to hold the corners of the doors in place on the rabbets of the openings K.

The operation is asfollows: In case the carhas caugh t fire or has been overturned, and the doorways are impassable and cannot be reached, a'train-hand rocks the lever G, after having previously adjusted the pawl H, as shown in Fig. 1. Thereby the shaft E and the pinions D will be rotated, and will move the racks and bars B in the direction of the arrow or. The studs 0 in the slots N cannot move downward, and as they move forward, with the seats, the doors L are raised, and are then moved in the direction of the arrow a until the openings K are clear, as shown in Fig. 2. The passengers can easily escape through the said openings. If the seats and doors are to be replaced, the pawl H is so adjusted that the other shank will act on the teeth of the wheel F, so that if the lever GlS rocked, the strips B willhe moved in the inverse direction of the arrow-a. As the doors L are under the'scat, where no' one is apt to step on them, there is no dangerofa person falling through the car-floor in case a door is slightly misplaced.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a car having open ings in its bottom, of doors for closing the said teeth of the ratchet-wheel F. A lockingopenings, and sliding bars supporting the seats, with which seats the doors are connected, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a car having openings in its bottom, of the doors L, the sliding bars B, the racks G, and a shaft provided with pinions engaging with the racks O and with a rocking lever, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with a car having openings in its bottom, of the doors L, the sliding bars B, supporting-seats A, connected with thedoors L, the racks O, the pinions D, the shaft E, and a device for rotating the said shaft E, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with a car having openings in its bottom, of the doors L, provided with slottedlugs M, the sliding bars B, the racks O, the pinions D, mounted on a shaft, E, devices for rotating the said shaft, and of the studs 0, passing from the innersurfaces of the seat end pieces, A, through the slots N in the lugs M, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with a car having openings in its bottom, of the doors L, the seats A, the sliding bars B, the racks G, the pinions 1), the shaft E, the ratchet-Wheel F, the rocking lever Gr, and the adjustable fork-shaped pawl H, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with a car having openings in its bottom, of the doors L, the seats A, the sliding bars B, the racks G, the pinions D, the shaft E, the ratchet-wheel F, the rocking lever G, the adjustable fork-shaped pawl H, and the locking spring lever J, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth. 7 V

7. The combination, with a car having openings Kin its bottom, of the removable doors- L for closing the said openings, and of the corner-pieces P, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose setforth.

THOMAS E. FLINT.

Witnesses CARLTON J. MOORE, J AMES E. STAPLETON. 

